The present research aims to test the antibacterial activities of a sample of 13 plant species used in traditional medicine against infectious and parasitic diseases in Kinshasa and its surroundings. Ten herbal drugs were tested in the laboratory on Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, and Staphylococcus aureus. With the exception of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, three of the four bacterial strains tested are sensitive to the herbal recipes in this study: Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, and Staphylococcus aureus. These results give credibility to the traditional knowledge of local ethnic groups for the antibacterial properties of traditional prescriptions used in traditional medicine.

The ethnobotanical study was carried out on medicinal plants used in the traditional treatment of hepatitis in Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its general objective was to establish a relationship between the level of education of traditional healers and their expertise in alternative medicine to treat viral hepatitis. On a floristic list of 36 plant species used in the composition of different anti-hepatitis recipes, the Fabaceae family is predominant with 5 species. Considering Citation Frequency (CF), species such as Ageratum conyzoides L., Senna alata (L.) Roxb., Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, and Millettia laurentii De Wild. are the best known by traditional healers. The high rate of illiteracy among traditional healers (42.9%) seems to challenge the reliability of endogenous knowledge. However, since the species inventoried have proven their effectiveness in other countries, the established expertise of the traditional healers of Mbandaka in the treatment of hepatitis is confirmed. Endogenous knowledge, therefore, does not take into account the level of education.